Starling Bank Bikes

Gareth Jones

1 year ago

The app constantly crashes, unlocks multiple bikes and doesn't register rides. I'm regularly mischarged £10 penalty fees which I then have to dispute to get a refund. You can't rely on this app for transport which is such a shame because the network of bikes across the city is very useful.

Krzys Trybek

9 months ago

Really bad service. Either bikes don't lock properly or the system doesn't read them as locked, tried twice, both times been overcharged despite bike being locked. it's great that the team responds quickly and it's being refunded, but it shouldn't be happening.

Calvinッ

1 year ago

The Customer Support, surprisingly is the only saving grace for this app. The app is utterly terrible, you genuinely don't know if the app is going to work or not. I say this next to a bike stand where I have tried 5 of the 10 possible bikes, and not a single one has unlocked. Whether this is the locking mechanism or something else is unclear. The app barely recognises when you're parked correctly. I have been charged 30 pound for parking inside a stand before now. 29/05: Still awful!

Nathan

11 months ago

Spend on average 5-10 minutes trying to unlock a bike as the app freezes/buzzes to acknowledge I'm placing it over the unlock sensor but refuses to work. Bikes are fine once I eventually get them unlocked but too frustrating to use on a consistent basis because of how long they take start a journey. Also the app tells me I'm "offline" a lot but I can see I've got internet and I'm in the middle of a city. Needs to be a lot more consistent before I can give it a higher rating.

James Lilleker

5 months ago

You really need to sort out the locking/unlocking process ASAP - it's awful with success rate less than 20% in my experience. Embarrassing for the city (and I suspect Starling will be jumping ship at earliest opportunity...) Edit - Mar 25 - things do seem better now

Ben Savelli

4 months ago

Love it when it works but it's usually my second or third attempt before I can actually unlock a bike and often it won't lock after the ride either. Always have great experience with customer service, just a shame I'm needing to talk to them so much.

Andy

6 months ago

Slow app that takes a while to unlock and lock the bikes. The locks/stands/bikes themselves are very temperamental which makes it difficult to use the system, but the app doesn't help. App does do the job, however. Main annoyance is when I lock the bike and have to wait 1 or 2 mins for it to acknowledge the bike is locked (often the locks don't work properly so if i get fined £10 then it's a pain to send a message to get refund so want to know it's locked immediately after finishing the ride).

Sian Thompson

10 months ago

It's a great idea in principle but there are just too many issues with it. Sometimes the bikes don't unlock (even if they show as unlocked on the app, which means you're paying for a locked bike). I've had times where three bikes in a row have failed to unlock and I've wasted 15 minutes trying to sort it out. I've incorrectly been given a £10 charge for not locking the bike properly about 6 or 7 times and have to request a refund every time.

rebecca

1 week ago

recently started sending unsolicited advertising notifications. deeply unacceptable

Aiden

1 month ago

Bikes often unavailable at certain stations for days and days when I'm relying on using them.

Nicolae Alexandru Panait

2 months ago

The app requires Internet connection to close the ride and if it drops for a few seconds it will charge you 10 Gbp parking violation

Alan Falloon

2 months ago

I have tried to get a bike on 2 occasions and both times the bike failed to unlock.

Alexandru Țurcan

4 months ago

Does not work. I tried to unlock 6 different bikes near Arndale this morning and every single time I got a message saying the bike either can't be released or is not available for hire. Extremely poor experience. I will not use this service again and I hope some competition with working apps and bikes is gonna appear in Manchester soon.

Alex Waters

1 month ago

I was quite put off by comments about the locks not working and yeah there are too many lock issues but it's mostly ok for me. The bikes are unlikely to be in the Olympics but are perfectly decent for city rides and better than I expected

Tom Holden

1 month ago

used to love them but now it takes like 10 attempts to unlock one, the gears never work and I seem to often randomly get a £10 charge even after properly locking (which I do get refunded but it's still a waste of time)

Ian Irving

4 months ago

I am giving this app 3 stars, as they seem to have improved the app, as it is now more responsive and crashes less. Bikes still have an unlock rate less than 100%, and with e-bikes you often have to try two or three before one works. If this review was about the quality of the bikes, the safety riding one in Manchester & the quality of the cycling infrastructure of the town, it'd be 1*. It pains me to say this, but many of Manchester's cycle lanes are not fit for purpose. Beware.

Asim Alvie

1 month ago

Tried Starling Bank Bikes in an emergency instead of Uber, very disappointing. I rode 3.1 miles for 11 minutes and was charged £27.10, including a £25 out-of-zone fee that wasn’t clearly flagged beforehand. For a first-time user, that’s shockingly high. Uber would’ve been cheaper, more transparent, and far less frustrating. Not recommended.